Component mounting method and component mounting apparatus

ABSTRACT

A component mounting method is provided for mounting a light emitting component on a board by picking up the light emitting component from a pocket formed in a carrier tape by a mount head. The method includes recognizing a reference part formed in the board, recognizing a light emitting part of the light emitting component by imaging the light emitting component from above in a state where the light emitting component is held within the pocket by a holder from below, picking up the light emitting component by the mount head in the state where the light emitting component is held within the pocket by the holder from below, and mounting the picked up light emitting component on the board based on a recognition result of the reference part and a recognition result of the light emitting part.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/983,264 filed on Dec. 29, 2015, which claims the priority fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2015-36520 filed on Feb. 26, 2015, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a component mounting method and acomponent mounting apparatus for mounting a light emitting component ona board by taking out the light emitting component from a carrier tape.

2. Description of Related Art

In recent years, as a lighting apparatus, a lighting board of which alight source is a light emitting component such as an LED has beenwidely used (see JP-A-2012-42670 and JP-A-2012-243713 as PatentDocuments 1 and 2). A plurality of light emitting components are mountedon the lighting board in a predetermined arrangement and qualityrequirements of the lighting board are that the light emittingcomponents are arranged at precise positions in the lighting board as afinished product. Particularly, when an exterior of the lighting boardand the like to be mounted on a vehicle is important, it is required toprecisely dispose a light emitting part of the light emitting componentat a predetermined position in a manufacturing process of the lightingboard.

However, in the light emitting component, variation exists in apositional relationship between an actual position of the light emittingpart and an original reference position at which the light emitting partshould be positioned because of an error in the manufacturing process.Thus, in order to manufacture the lighting board that meets the qualityrequirements described above, it is not possible to use the referenceposition defined by the exterior and the like without change, as areference of positioning when mounting the light emitting component onthe board. As described above, as a technique of mounting the componentwhich has characteristics in which the positional relationship betweenan actual functional position and the original reference position hasvariation, on the board while precisely arranging the functionalposition, a method of positioning the component based on a recognitionresult of optical recognition of the component in a mounting process hasbeen known (for example, see Japanese Patent No. 3617483 as PatentDocument 3).

In Japanese Patent No. 3617483, when mounting an electronic component onthe board by picking up the electronic component by a transfer head,first, a first recognizing process is performed, in which the electroniccomponent before being held in the transfer head is imaged andrecognized by a first camera from an active surface side (upper surfaceside), and then the transfer head picks up the electronic component bybeing positioned to the electronic component based on a result ofdetecting the exterior of the electronic component and an active surfaceposition. Next, a second recognizing process of recognizing theelectronic component picked up by the transfer head is performed byimaging and recognizing the electronic component from a rear surfaceside (lower surface side) by a second camera, and thereby the exteriorof the electronic component is detected. Then, when positioning theactive surface of the electronic component to the board, a positionshift error of the electronic component occurring when picking up theelectronic component is corrected based on a detection result in thefirst recognizing process and a detection result in the secondrecognizing process.

Patent Document 1: JP-A-2012-42670

Patent Document 2: JP-A-2012-243713

Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent No. 3617483

SUMMARY

However, as in the related art described above, in a method ofperforming a position correcting process based on a result of imagingand recognizing of the component within the component mountingapparatus, there is a drawback as follows. First, in a componentmounting operation for the light emitting component, recognition of thecomponent within the component mounting apparatus is performed byimaging and recognizing (first recognizing process) the light emittingcomponent from the upper surface side in a state where the lightemitting component has been supplied to a pick-up position by a tapefeeder. Since the light emitting component is in a state of being simplyaccommodated within a pocket of the carrier tape in the firstrecognizing process, the position of the light emitting component is notstable and the recognition result of the first recognizing processobtained in this state cannot be used without a change for positioncorrection in component mounting. Thus, it is necessary that the lightemitting component that is held by a suction nozzle is imaged andrecognized (second recognizing process) from the lower surface side bymoving a mount head in the up direction of the component recognitioncamera, which takes the light emitting component out from the tapefeeder by sucking and holding the light emitting component by thesuction nozzle, and the position shift error of the electronic componentoccurring when picking up the electronic component is corrected based onthe detection result in the first recognizing process and the detectionresult in the second recognizing process.

That is, as in the related art described above, when performing thesecond recognizing process for imaging and recognizing the lightemitting component from the lower surface side in addition to the firstrecognizing process for imaging and recognizing the light emittingcomponent from the upper surface side in the mounting process, it takestime for the imaging and recognizing process of the light emittingcomponent and there is a drawback that a lowering of productivity iscaused. Furthermore, for the light emitting component, in a case whereboth a body section of the light emitting component and the carrier tapeare black, even if the light emitting component is imaged from the uppersurface side, there is a problem that it is difficult to opticallyrecognize the exterior of the component. Furthermore, since differencesoften occur in the exteriors of the upper surface and the lower surfacedue to cut-shape precision in a process of a cutting and separating thelight emitting component into individual pieces, there is a problem thatit is difficult to sufficiently secure the mounting precision even ifthe recognition is performed with respect to the light emittingcomponent from the lower surface side in addition to the recognitionfrom the upper surface side.

Then, a non-limited object of one or more aspects of the presentinvention is to provide a component mounting method and a componentmounting apparatus in which mounting precision can be secured withoutperforming recognition of a light emitting component from a lowersurface side even for the light emitting component in which variationexists in a position of a light emitting part.

An aspect of the present invention provides a component mounting methodfor mounting a light emitting component on a board by picking up thelight emitting component from a pocket formed in a carrier tape by amount head, the method including: recognizing a reference part formed inthe board; recognizing a light emitting part of the light emittingcomponent by imaging the light emitting component from above in a statewhere the light emitting component is held within the pocket by a holderfrom below; picking up the light emitting component by the mount head inthe state where the light emitting component is held within the pocketby the holder from below; and mounting the picked up light emittingcomponent on the board based on a recognition result of the referencepart and a recognition result of the light emitting part.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a component mountingapparatus for mounting a light emitting component on a board by pickingup the light emitting component from a pocket formed in a carrier tapeby a mount head, the apparatus including: a component supply device thatsupplies the carrier tape to a pick-up position of the mount head; aholder in the component supply device that holds the light emittingcomponent within the pocket from below; a reference part recognizer thatrecognizes a reference part formed in the board; a light emitting partrecognizer that recognizes a light emitting part of the light emittingcomponent by imaging the light emitting component from above in a statewhere the light emitting component is held within the pocket by theholder from below; and a mounting controller that picks up the lightemitting component with the mount head in the state where the lightemitting component is held and mounts the light emitting component onthe board, by controlling an operation of the mount head based on arecognition result of the reference part by the reference partrecognizer and a recognition result of the light emitting part by thelight emitting part recognizer.

In the aspects of the present invention, even for the light emittingcomponent in which variation exists in the position of light emittingpart, it may be possible to secure mounting precision without performingrecognition of the light emitting component from the lower surface side.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a configuration of a component mountingsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a part of the component mounting systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a configuration of a tape feedermounted on a component mounting apparatus according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIGS. 4A to 4C are explanatory views of a configuration of a lowerreceiving section mounted on a pick-up position of the tape feederaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a controlsystem of the component mounting apparatus according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIGS. 6A to 6C are explanatory views of a reference of mountingpositioning in a component mounting method according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIGS. 7A to 7C are explanatory views of a reference of mountingpositioning in the component mounting method according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of processes illustrating the componentmounting method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a mounting process of the light emittingcomponent in the component mounting method according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are explanatory views of imaging of a component andrecognition of a light emitting part in the component mounting methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 11A to 11C are explanatory views of mounting of the light emittingcomponent in the component mounting method according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to the accompanying drawings. First, a configuration of acomponent mounting system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.The component mounting system 1 has a function of producing a lightingboard by mounting a light emitting component such as an LED to a boardby soldering. The component mounting system 1 has a component mountingline 1 a as a main body which is configured by connecting a screenprinting device M2, an adhesive application device M3, a componentmounting apparatus M4, and a reflow device M5 in series between a boardsupply device M1 having a function of providing a board of a mountedtarget and a board recovering device M6 having a function of recoveringa mounted board.

Board transport sections including each device of the component mountingline 1 a are connected in series and form a board transport path havingthe same pass line. In a component mounting operation, an operation ofmounting a component for mounting a light emitting component 20 (seeFIGS. 6A to 6C, 7A to 7C, and 8) is performed with respect to a board 3(see FIGS. 2 and 6A to 6C) transported along the board transport path bythe screen printing device M2, the adhesive application device M3, thecomponent mounting apparatus M4, and the reflow device M5.

That is, the board 3 supplied by the board supply device M1 isintroduced into the screen printing device M2 and here, a screenprinting operation for printing solder paste S for component bondingwhich is printed on the board 3 is performed (see FIG. 8). The board 3after screen printing is passed to the adhesive application device M3and here, adhesive A (see FIG. 8) for fixing the light emittingcomponent 20 to the board 3 is applied to a predetermined coatingposition. The board 3 after adhesive application is passed to thecomponent mounting apparatus M4 and the component mounting operation formounting the light emitting component 20 on the board 3 after the solderpaste S is printed and the adhesive A is applied.

The board 3 after mounting the component is introduced into the reflowdevice M5 and here, is heated according to a predetermined heatingprofile. That is, first, preheating is performed to cure thethermosetting adhesive A applied in the adhesive application device M3.Thus, the light emitting component 20 is fixed to the board 3 in a stateof being held at a position during mounting. Next, main heating forsoldering is performed. In this case, the light emitting component 20 isin a state of being fixed to the board 3 by the adhesive A, in thisstate, solder in the solder paste S is melted and solidified, andthereby a terminal of the light emitting component 20 and a land 3 a ofthe board 3 are electrically and mechanically connected. Thus, thelighting board, on the board 3 of which the light emitting component 20is mounted, is completed and is recovered to the board recovering deviceM6.

In the configuration described above, in the embodiment, the reflowdevice M5 functions as an adhesive curing section for fixing the lightemitting component 20 to the board 3 by curing the adhesive A applied inthe adhesive application device M3 and functions as a reflow section forelectrically and mechanically connecting the terminal of the lightemitting component 20 and the land 3 a of the board 3 by melting thesolder in the solder paste S in a state where the light emittingcomponent 20 is fixed to the board 3 by the cured adhesive A.

In the embodiment, as the adhesive A, thermosetting adhesive of which apeak of a curing reaction reaches at a temperature lower than a meltingpoint of the solder in the solder paste S, for example, thermosettingadhesive of which the peak of the curing reaction that is measured bydifferential scanning calorimetry measurement appears at a temperaturelower than the melting point of the solder is used. Correspondingly, theadhesive curing section described above is a preheating section forheating the board 3 to a temperature less than the melting point of thesolder and a temperature or higher for accelerating the curing reactionof the thermosetting adhesive, and the reflow section described above isa form to continuously heat the board 3 to the melting point or more ofthe solder from the preheating section. Such a heating form is realizedby a heating profile setting function included in the reflow device M5.

Moreover, as the adhesive applied in the adhesive application device M3,light-curable adhesive having UV curable resin and the like ascomponents may be used instead of the thermosetting adhesive. In thiscase, as the adhesive curing section for fixing the light emittingcomponent 20 to the board 3 by curing the adhesive applied in theadhesive application device M3, a light irradiation section such as a UVirradiation device for applying light for accelerating curing of thethermosetting adhesive is disposed on an upstream side of the reflowdevice M5 or an inside of the reflow device M5.

Next, configurations of the screen printing device M2, the adhesiveapplication device M3, and the component mounting apparatus M4 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, board transportmechanisms 2A, 2B, and 2C are arranged in series in the board transportdirection (X-direction) at centers of bases 1A, 1B, and 1C which arerespectively provided in the screen printing device M2, the adhesiveapplication device M3, and the component mounting apparatus M4, and formthe board transport path for transporting the board 3 in the componentmounting system 1.

Y axis moving mechanisms 4A, 4B, and 4C are respectively erected on bothend portions on upper surfaces of the bases 1A, 1B, and 1C in aY-direction. A squeegee table 5A and X axis moving mechanisms 5B and 5Care respectively laid between the Y axis moving mechanisms 4A, 4B, and4C to be movable in the Y-direction. The Y axis moving mechanism 4B, theX axis moving mechanism 5B, the Y axis moving mechanism 4C, and the Xaxis moving mechanism 5C configure an operation head moving mechanismfor moving an operation head performing a mounting operation of eachcomponent described below in the adhesive application device M3 and thecomponent mounting apparatus M4.

The screen printing device M2 includes a board positioning section 6 forpositioning and holding the board 3. The board positioning section 6positions the board 3 introduced into the screen printing device M2through the board transport mechanism 2A with respect to a screen mask 7disposed above the board positioning section 6. A squeegee head 8 forscreen printing is disposed on a lower surface of the squeegee table 5Aso as to be vertically movable with respect to the screen mask 7. Thesqueegee head 8 performs the screen printing operation sliding on anupper surface of the screen mask 7 in the Y-direction by driving the Yaxis moving mechanism 4A in a state where the squeegee head 8 islowered.

Pattern holes (not illustrated) are formed in the screen mask 7corresponding to solder printing portions (see the lands 3 a in pairsformed on the upper surface of the board 3 in FIGS. 6A to 6C) in theboard 3. In a state where the board 3 held in the board positioningsection 6 abuts a lower surface of the screen mask 7, the screenprinting operation is performed in the squeegee head 8 on the screenmask 7 to which the solder paste S is supplied. Thus, the solder paste Sfor component bonding is printed by screen printing in the land 3 a ofthe board 3. That is, the screen printing device M2 is a solder pastesupply section for supplying the solder paste S to the lands 3 a inpairs formed on the upper surface of the board 3.

The board transport mechanism 2B of the adhesive application device M3introduces and positions the board 3 to which the solder paste S isprinted. A coating head 9 including a dispenser 10 discharging theadhesive A is mounted on the X axis moving mechanism 5B. It is possibleto apply the adhesive A at a predetermined coating position on the uppersurface of the board 3 by positioning the coating head 9 with respect tothe board 3 by driving the Y axis moving mechanism 4B and the X axismoving mechanism 5B. In the embodiment, the thermosetting adhesive A forfixing the light emitting component is applied to the coating positionthat is set between the lands 3 a in pairs on the board 3 prior tomounting the light emitting component 20 on the board 3 (see FIG. 8).That is, the adhesive application device M3 is an adhesive coatingsection for applying the adhesive for fixing the light emittingcomponent to the board 3 between the lands 3 a in pairs on the board 3.

The board transport mechanism 2C of the component mounting apparatus M4introduces and positions the board 3 to which the adhesive is applied. Acomponent supply section 14 in which a plurality of tape feeders 15 arearranged is provided on one side of the board transport mechanism 2C.The tape feeder 15 supplies the light emitting component to a pick-upposition by a component mount head 11 by pitch-feeding a carrier tape 16(see FIG. 3), within a pocket 16 b of which the light emitting component20 that is the component to be mounted is held. Then, the light emittingcomponent 20 is taken out from the pocket 16 b and is mounted on theboard 3 by the component mount head 11 (mount head) included in thecomponent mounting apparatus M4.

The component mount head 11 including a plurality of suction nozzles 11a(see FIG. 3) for sucking and holding the light emitting component 20 ismounted on the X axis moving mechanism 5C. A board recognition camera 12integrally moving with the component mount head 11 is provided on thelower surface of the X axis moving mechanism 5C. The Y axis movingmechanism 4C and the X axis moving mechanism 5C configure a mount headmoving mechanism 13 for moving the component mount head 11. Thecomponent mount head 11 is movable to an arbitrary position above thecomponent supply section 14 and the board 3 together with the boardrecognition camera 12 by driving the mount head moving mechanism 13.

The component mount head 11 moves to above the board 3 and then arecognition target such as a board recognition mark 3 c set to the uppersurface of the board 3 (see FIG. 7B) is imaged by the board recognitioncamera 12. Furthermore, the component mount head 11 moves to above thecomponent supply section 14 and then it is possible to take out thelight emitting component 20 from the tape feeder 15. Thus, the componentmounting operation for transporting and mounting the light emittingcomponent 20 to and on the board 3 that is positioned and held in theboard transport mechanism 2C is performed. In the mounting operation ofthe light emitting component 20 on the board 3 by the component mounthead 11, positioning between the light emitting component 20 and theboard 3 is performed based on a recognition result in which arecognizing process of an imaging result of the board 3 is performed bythe board recognition camera 12.

Here, a configuration and a function of the tape feeder 15 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 3. As described above, the tape feeder15 has the function as the component supply device for supplying thelight emitting component 20 to the pick-up position by the componentmount head 11 by pitch-feeding the carrier tape 16, to the pocket 16 bof which the light emitting component 20 is held. As illustrated in FIG.3, the tape feeder 15 is configured to include a feeder body section 15a configuring an entire shape of the tape feeder 15 and a mountingsection 15 b that is provided convexly below from the lower surface ofthe feeder body section 15 a. A connector 15 c provided in the mountingsection 15 b is fitted to a feeder mounting base 14 a in a state ofmounting the tape feeder 15 in such a manner that a lower surface of thefeeder body section 15 a is provided along the feeder mounting base 14a. Thus, the tape feeder 15 is fixed and mounted to and on the componentsupply section 14 (see FIG. 2), and the tape feeder 15 is electricallyconnected to a controller 30 (see FIG. 5) of the component mountingapparatus M4.

A tape traveling path 15 d is provided to communicate with the inside ofthe feeder body section 15 a from an opening of an upstream end portionto the pick-up position by the component mount head 11 in the tape feeddirection of the feeder body section 15 a. The tape traveling path 15 dhas a function of guiding tape feed of the carrier tape 16 introduced onthe inside of the feeder body section 15 a from the upstream side of thefeeder body section 15 a to the pick-up position by the component mounthead 11.

The carrier tape 16 is configured to provide feed holes 16 f in a basetape 16 a configuring a tape body at predetermined pitches forpitch-feeding the pocket 16 b that accommodates and holds the lightemitting component 20. An upper surface of the base tape 16 a is sealedby a top tape 16 c to cover the pocket 16 b to prevent the lightemitting component 20 from falling from the pocket 16 b.

A pitch feed mechanism for pitch-feeding the carrier tape 16 by asprocket 15 g disposed in a downstream end portion of the feeder bodysection 15 a in the tape feeding direction is built in the feeder bodysection 15 a. The pitch feed mechanism includes a tape feed motor 15 ffor driving the sprocket 15 g to rotate and a feeder controller 15 e forcontrolling the tape feed motor 15 f. The carrier tape 16 is pitch-fedalong the tape traveling path 15 d by driving the tape feed motor 15 fin a state where a feed pin (not illustrated) provided on an outerperiphery of the sprocket 15 g is fitted into the feed hole 16 f of thecarrier tape 16.

A front side of the sprocket 15 g in the tape feeding direction is thepick-up position in which the light emitting component 20 within thepocket 16 b is taken out by sucking the light emitting component 20 bythe suction nozzle 11 a of the component mount head 11. A tape pressingmember 17 is disposed on an upper surface side of the feeder bodysection 15 a in the vicinity of the pick-up position. The tape pressingmember 17 has a function as a guide section for guiding the carrier tape16 by covering an upper portion of the carrier tape 16. A suctionopening section 17 a is provided in the tape pressing member 17corresponding to the pick-up position by the suction nozzle 11 a. Anupstream end of the suction opening section 17 a in the tape feedingdirection is a top tape peeling section 17 b for peeling the top tape 16c.

The carrier tape 16 is pitch-fed in a state of being pressed against thetape traveling path 15 d by the tape pressing member 17. In the courseof the carrier tape 16 traveling below the tape pressing member 17, thetop tape 16 c is peeled from the base tape 16 a on an upstream side of asuction position starting from the top tape peeling section 17 b bypulling out the top tape 16 c on an upstream side in the tape feedingdirection. Thus, the light emitting component 20 within the pocket 16 bis exposed upward in the suction opening section 17 a.

Then, it is possible to image the light emitting component 20 within thepocket 16 b by imaging the lower portion by the board recognition camera12 by moving the board recognition camera 12 to the upper portion of thesuction opening section 17 a in which the light emitting component 20within the pocket 16 b is exposed. Then, the upper surface of the lightemitting component 20 is recognized and it is possible to detect a lightemitting part 21 (see FIGS. 10A and 10B) by performing the recognizingprocess of an imaged result by a component upper surface recognitionprocessing section 33 (see FIG. 5). Furthermore, similarly, it ispossible to pick up the light emitting component 20 by sucking andholding the upper surface of the light emitting component 20 by thesuction nozzle 11 a by performing a component pick-up operation in thecomponent mount head 11 by moving the component mount head 11 above thesuction opening section 17 a in which the light emitting component 20within the pocket 16 b is exposed.

As illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4C, a lower receiving section 23, which ispositioned below the tape pressing member 17 that is a guide member andreceives the pocket 16 b from the lower surface side, is disposed in acomponent corresponding to the pick-up position by the suction nozzle 11a on the upper surface of the feeder body section 15 a. The tapepressing member 17 is pivotally supplied (not illustrated) to berotatable (arrow a) relative to the feeder body section 15 a. The lowerreceiving section 23 has a function of receiving the pocket 16 b thatreaches the suction opening section 17 a in the tape feed of the carriertape 16 from the lower surface side. The carrier tape 16 is guided bybeing interposed between the tape traveling path 15 d and the tapepressing member 17.

A configuration of the lower receiving section 23 will be described. Inaddition, FIG. 4B illustrates a planar shape (arrow IVB-IVB in FIG. 4A)of the lower receiving section 23. The lower receiving section 23 has anelongated base section 23 a as a main body. A notched section 23 b isformed in the base section 23 a corresponding to a position of thesuction opening section 17 a of the tape pressing member 17. Two leafsprings 24, which are formed on the upper surface side of the basesection 23 a by processing a thin member having rich elasticity to anelongated shape and are divided into two parts in front and rear in thetape feeding direction (lateral direction in FIGS. 4A to 4C), aredisposed in a form in which each one end portion thereof is fixed andcoupled to the base section 23 a.

Opposite other ends of the two leaf springs 24 are coupled to a suctionsection 26 disposed in a state where spatial displacement is allowed ata position corresponding to the suction opening section 17 a above thenotched section 23 b. Since the leaf spring 24 is the thin member havingrich elasticity, in a state of being illustrated in FIG. 4A, an upwardelastic force is always applied with respect to the suction section 26.Then, in a state where the carrier tape 16 is fed on the upper side ofthe suction section 26 and the suction section 26 is pressed down, theleaf springs 24 are bent. Thus, the suction section 26 is lowered to aheight position corresponding to a thickness of the carrier tape 16 and,in a state of partially fitting into the notched section 23 b, thecarrier tape 16 is elastically received from the lower side.

The suction section 26 has an abut lower receiving surface 26 a having ashape capable of abutting a lower surface of an embossed section 16 dforming the pocket 16 b of the carrier tape 16 on an upper surfacethereof. A section hole 26 b is provided in the abut lower receivingsurface 26 a and the section hole 26 b communicates with a section hole26 c which is formed by passing through the inside of the suctionsection 26. A suction pipe 27 connected to the section hole 26 c isconnected to a vacuum suction source 28 and a suction target isvacuum-sucked from the suction pipe 27 by driving the vacuum suctionsource 28. Thus, it is possible to suck and hold the suction target tothe abut lower receiving surface 26 a by the section hole 26 b. That is,the lower receiving section 23 is configured to include the suctionsection 26 for sucking the light emitting component 20 from below andthe leaf springs 24 allowing the suction section 26 to come into contactwith a bottom of the embossed section 16 d forming the pocket 16 b fromthe lower surface side.

Then, in a state where the vacuum suction source 28 is driven, thesuction section 26 comes into contact with the bottom of the embossedsection 16 d from the lower surface side, the light emitting component20 is sucked from below through a hole section 16 e formed in the bottomof the pocket 16 b by the suction section 26, and thereby the lightemitting component 20 is held within the pocket 16 b with a suctionholding force. Thus, the suction section 26 and the vacuum suctionsource 28 configure a holding unit for sucking and holding the lightemitting component 20 within the pocket 16 b from below in the tapefeeder 15 as the component supply device.

In the embodiment, both recognition of a light emitting part positionfor recognizing the light emitting part 21 of the light emittingcomponent 20 supplied by the tape feeder 15 by the board recognitioncamera 12 and taking out of the component for picking up the lightemitting component 20 by the component mount head 11 are performed in astate where the light emitting component 20 is held by the holding unitdescribed above within the pocket 16 b. Here, as the vacuum suctionsource 28, an ejector type vacuum generation unit may be configured tobe incorporated to every tape feeder 15 and a vacuum generation devicemay be used as a vacuum generation source for the plurality of tapefeeders 15 by providing the vacuum generation device dedicated to acarriage on which the plurality of tape feeders 15 are collectivelymounted.

As illustrated in FIG. 4B, in the two leaf springs 24 extending in afront and rear direction by being coupled to the suction section 26,slits 25 a and 25 b are formed at positions in which both the leafsprings 24 are partially divided into two parts in a width direction inpredetermined length ranges 11 and 12 from the suction section 26. Thus,the leaf springs 24 have a form in which a plurality of member pieces 24a, 24 b, 24 c, and 24 d are partially segmented in the vicinity of aportion in which the suction section 26 is interposed therebetween. Thatis, the leaf springs 24 are segmented into a plurality of pieces by theslits 25 a and 25 b formed along the tape feeding direction in pitchfeeding. The suction section 26 is in a state of being held by theplurality of member pieces 24 a, 24 b, 24 c, and 24 d at four positionswhich are respectively diagonally disposed.

As described above, each member piece is allowed to be displaced by adifferent bending amount by holding the suction section 26 by theplurality of member pieces 24 a, 24 b, 24 c, and 24 d. Thus, the suctionsection 26 is configured such that inclination deformation (arrow b) inthe tape feeding direction and inclination deformation (arrow c) in thetape width direction are respectively allowed to have differentdeformation amounts, and the abut lower receiving surface 26 a cansatisfactorily follow a state of the embossed section 16 d of a lowerreceiving target. Thus, each the embossed sections 16 d is stablyreceived and held from below, and the light emitting component 20 withinthe pocket 16 b can be stably sucked and held by the suction section 26.

Thus, as the light emitting component 20, even if a component of whichthe position is difficult to be held with a magnetic attraction force bya magnet member having magnetism is a target, it is possible to stablyposition and hold the target component within the pocket 16 b. Thus, ina case where the position of the light emitting part 21 is detected byimaging the light emitting component 20 within the pocket 16 b fromabove, it is possible to suppress a position error due to the positionshift of the light emitting component 20 within the pocket 16 b byvibration or the position shift generated when picking up the lightemitting component 20 by the suction nozzle 11 a.

Next, a configuration of a control system of the component mountingapparatus M4 will be described with reference to FIG. 5. In thecomponent mounting apparatus M4, the controller 30 includes each sectionof a component mount processing section 31, a board recognitionprocessing section 32, a component upper surface recognition processingsection 33, and a component mount coordinate calculating section 35 asan internal processing function, and further includes a storage section36 for storing board information 36 a and component information 36 b.The board information 36 a and the component information 36 b are designinformation for the board 3 and the light emitting component 20 that arerespective mounting operation targets. The board information 36 aincludes the land 3 a, a mount coordinate point 3 b, a positioncoordinate of the board recognition mark 3 c, and the like in the board3. The component information 36 b includes a shape of the light emittingcomponent 20 and the like. In addition, the controller 30 is connectedto the board transport mechanism 2C, the board recognition camera 12,the component mount head 11 (mount head), the mount head movingmechanism 13, and the tape feeder 15.

The component mount processing section 31 performs a component mountingprocess for transporting and mounting the light emitting component 20 tothe board 3 by taking out the light emitting component 20 from the tapefeeder 15 by controlling the board transport mechanism 2C, the componentmount head 11, the mount head moving mechanism 13, and the tape feeder15. In the component mounting process, a result of a component mountingcoordinate calculation by the component mount coordinate calculatingsection 35 described below is referred to.

The board recognition processing section 32 detects a stop position ofthe board 3 by recognition processing of an imaged result in which theboard recognition mark 3 c (see FIG. 7B) as a reference part formed inthe board 3 is imaged by the board recognition camera 12. Thus, theboard recognition camera 12 and the board recognition processing section32 are a reference part recognizer for recognizing the board recognitionmark 3 c as the reference part formed in the board 3.

In an imaging operation of the light emitting part 21 formed of theupper surface of the light emitting component 20 by the boardrecognition camera 12 and a taking-out operation of the light emittingcomponent 20 by the component mount head 11, the component upper surfacerecognition processing section 33 recognizes a light emitting partposition FC of the light emitting part 21 formed on the upper surface ofthe light emitting component 20 by the recognizing process of the imagedresult in which the upper surface of the light emitting component 20 isimaged by the board recognition camera 12 for the light emittingcomponent 20 as the target in a state of being sucked and held by thesuction section 26. Thus, the board recognition camera 12 and thecomponent upper surface recognition processing section 33 are a lightemitting part recognizer for recognizing the light emitting part 21 ofthe light emitting component 20 by imaging the light emitting component20 in a state of being held from below within the pocket 16 b by theholding unit from above.

The component mount coordinate calculating section 35 performs a processof calculating the component mounting coordinate for positioning thelight emitting part position FC of the light emitting component 20 heldin the component mount head 11 to the mount coordinate point 3 b of theboard 3, based on a recognition processing result by the boardrecognition processing section 32 and the component upper surfacerecognition processing section 33. Then, the component mount processingsection 31 controls the mount head moving mechanism 13 based on thecomponent mounting coordinate that is calculated. Thus, the suctionnozzle of the component mount head 11 which holds the light emittingcomponent 20 is lowered to the board 3 and the light emitting part 21 ispositioned at the mount coordinate point 3 b that is positioned at apredetermined position of the board 3.

Thus, the component mount coordinate calculating section 35 and thecomponent mount processing section 31 are the mounting controller whichpicks up the light emitting component 20 in a state of being held in thetape feeder 15 and mounts the light emitting component 20 on the board 3by the component mount head 11 by controlling the operation of thecomponent mount head 11, based on the recognition result of the boardrecognition mark 3 c by the reference part recognizer and therecognition result of the light emitting part 21 by the light emittingpart recognizer.

As described above, the suction nozzle 11 a of the component mount head11 holding the light emitting component 20 is lowered with respect tothe board 3 and thereby a terminal 20 b of the light emitting component20 comes into contact with the solder paste S printed in the land 3 a.Then, a body section 20 a of the light emitting component 20 comes intocontact with the adhesive A applied to the board 3 (see (ST3B)illustrated in FIGS. 7A to 7C). Thus, the component mount processingsection 31 and the component mount head 11 are a light emitting partmounting section for allowing the terminal 20 b of the light emittingcomponent 20 to come into contact with the solder paste S that isprinted in the land 3 a and the body section 20 a of the light emittingcomponent 20 to come into contact with the adhesive A that is applied tothe board 3 by lowering the suction nozzle to the board 3.

Here, details of positioning between the light emitting component 20 andthe board 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A to 6C and FIGS.7A to 7C. First, FIGS. 6A to 6C illustrate a state of an ideal componentin which the light emitting component 20 is manufactured preciselyaccording to an instruction of design and dimensional errors such as theposition shift of each section do not exist. As illustrated in FIG. 6A,the light emitting component 20 has the rectangular body section 20 a asa main body where the light emitting part 21 is formed on the uppersurface that is a functional surface and the terminals 20 b forsoldering are formed at both ends of the body section 20 a in thelongitudinal direction. The light emitting part 21 is configured bycovering the upper surface of the LED that is the light emitting sourcewith a phosphor. As an example, the embodiment illustrates a case wherethe light emitting parts 21 in the light emitting component 20 aresymmetrically arranged with respect to a center point of the bodysection 20 a and a component center PC indicating a center position ofthe light emitting component 20 and the light emitting part position FCindicating a center position of the light emitting part 21 are matchedto each other.

FIG. 6B partially illustrates the board 3 on which a plurality of lightemitting components 20 are mounted by soldering and a plurality of lands3 a in pairs for soldering are respectively formed in a mounting surfaceof the board 3. The center position of the lands 3 a of each pair is themount coordinate point 3 b that is the target when mounting the lightemitting component 20. In the example of the embodiment, it is requiredthat the light emitting part position FC of the light emitting component20 matches the mount coordinate point 3 b in a state where the lightemitting component 20 is mounted by soldering.

FIG. 6C illustrates a state where the ideal component illustrated inFIG. 6A is mounted on the board 3. Moreover, in FIGS. 6A to 6C and FIGS.7A to 7C, the solder paste S for soldering and the adhesive for positionfixing are not illustrated. In this state, in the lands 3 a of each pairon which the light emitting component 20 is mounted, it is a goal thatthe light emitting part position FC of each light emitting component 20matches the mount coordinate point 3 b. In this case, as describedabove, in a case of the ideal component, the light emitting partposition FC matches the component center PC. Thus, the goal for adesired positioning is achieved by positioning the component center PCto the mount coordinate point 3 b.

FIGS. 7A to 7C illustrate details of positioning when mounting the lightemitting component 20 that is actually used in a production site. In amanufacturing process of the light emitting component 20, positioncontrol of the light emitting part 21 with respect to an external shapeof the body section 20 a is not necessarily exact and deviation of thelight emitting part position FC is present in each individual element.For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7A, a position shift (ΔL) in thelongitudinal direction and a position shift (ΔW) in the width directionare present between the light emitting part position FC that is thecenter position of the light emitting part 21 and the component centerPC that is the center position of the light emitting component 20 by theposition shift when mounting the LED on the body section 20 a and theerror when cutting the LEDs into pieces after mounting. Thus, when thelight emitting component 20 having the position shifts (ΔL and μW) ismounted on the positioning reference illustrated in FIG. 6C, that is,the component center PC is mounted to be fitted to the mount coordinatepoint 3 b, the light emitting part position FC to be matched to theoriginal mount coordinate point 3 b is in a state of beingposition-shifted.

In order to solve such a problem, in the component mounting system 1 ofthe embodiment, the light emitting part position FC is detected by imagerecognition in the actual light emitting component 20 before mounting ofthe light emitting component 20 on the board 3. Then, the mountingposition of the light emitting component 20 on the board 3 is correctedbased on the detected light emitting part position FC and as illustratedin FIG. 7C, the occurrence of the position shift of the light emittingpart position FC in the mounted state is prevented, and thereby thelight emitting part position FC is matched to the mount coordinate point3 b.

Next, the component mounting method of mounting the light emittingcomponent 20 on the board 3 by soldering by the component mountingsystem 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 8. Here, an example inwhich the light emitting component 20 is mounted on the board 3 bypicking up the light emitting component 20 from the pocket 16 b formedin the carrier tape 16 by the component mount head 11 is illustrated.Moreover, in FIG. 8, a process explanatory view illustrating operationcontents is given to each step of a process flow indicating thecomponent mounting method.

First, the board 3 is introduced into the screen printing device M2 andhere, screen printing is performed on the board 3 as the target (ST1).That is, the solder paste S is supplied to the lands 3 a of the pairformed on the upper surface of the board 3 by screen printing (solderpaste supplying process). Next, the board 3 is introduced into theadhesive application device M3 and application of the thermosettingadhesive is performed (ST2).

That is, the adhesive A for fixing the light emitting component 20 tothe board 3 is applied on the upper surface of the board 3 between thelands 3 a of the pair (adhesive applying process). Here, as the adhesiveA, thermosetting adhesive having curing characteristics of which a peakof a curing reaction reaches a temperature lower than a melting point ofthe solder in the solder paste S is used. Then, the coating position isset to a position coming into contact with the lower surface of the bodysection 20 a of the light emitting component 20 which has been mountedon the upper surface of the board 3 on both sides of the mountcoordinate point 3 b. Next, the board 3 is introduced into the componentmounting apparatus M4 to perform a light emitting component mountingprocess (ST3) and here, the light emitting part recognition (ST3A) andthe light emitting component mounting (ST3B) are performed.

In the light emitting part recognition (ST3A), the component mount head11 is moved upward the component supply section 14 and the upper surfaceof the light emitting component 20 which is held in the tape feeder 15is imaged by the board recognition camera 12 attached to the componentmount head 11. Then, the light emitting part position FC is recognizedby performing a recognizing process of an imaged result by the componentupper surface recognition processing section 33. In the light emittingcomponent mounting (ST3B), the light emitting part position FC ispositioned at the mount coordinate point 3 b and the light emittingcomponent 20 is mounted on the board 3 by correcting the mountingposition based on the recognition result of the recognition of the lightemitting part.

In this case, the terminal 20 b of the light emitting component 20 comesinto contact with the solder paste S printed on the land 3 a and thebody section 20 a of the light emitting component 20 comes into contactwith the adhesive A applied to the board 3. In the mounting state, thelight emitting component 20 is held on the upper surface of the board 3in a state where the light emitting part position FC is positioned atthe mount coordinate point 3 b and, in this state, the board 3 isintroduced into the reflow device M5.

In the reflow device M5, heating of the board 3 is performed accordingto the heating profile that is set in advance and then first, theadhesive A is cured and the light emitting component 20 is fixed to theboard 3 (adhesive curing process). In the embodiment, as the adhesive A,thermosetting resin is used and a preheating process of heating theboard 3 to a temperature that is less than a melting point of the solderin the solder paste S and a temperature or higher for accelerating thecuring reaction of the thermosetting adhesive A corresponds to anadhesive curing process (ST4). The adhesive A is cured by preheating andbecomes an adhesive A* for fixing the light emitting component 20 to theboard 3.

Next, the board 3 is moved on an inside of the reflow device M5 andthereby the procedure is proceeded to a heating process for solderingaccording to the heating profile. In the heating process, the solder inthe solder paste S is melted (ST5) by the adhesive A* made of the curedadhesive A in a state where the light emitting component 20 is fixed tothe board 3 and thereby the terminal 20 b of the light emittingcomponent 20 and the land 3 a of the board 3 are electrically andmechanically connected (reflow process). The reflowing process iscontinued from the preheating process and is performed by heating theboard 3 to a temperature of the melting point or more of the solder inthe reflow device M5.

Then, the solder is solidified and thereby a solder section S* in whichthe terminal 20 b of the light emitting component 20 and the land 3 a ofthe board 3 are coupled and fixed by soldering is formed. In thesoldering, since melting of the solder is performed in a state where thelight emitting component 20 is fixed to the board 3 by the adhesive A*,a self-alignment operation, in which the terminal 20 b is attracted tothe land 3 a by a surface tension of molten solder in the reflowprocess, is impeded. Thus, the light emitting component 20 is solderedto the board 3 while maintaining the state of being illustrated in(ST3B) and the light emitting part position FC of the light emittingpart 21 and the mount coordinate point 3 b of the board 3 are maintainedin a state of being accurately positioned even after soldering.

Here, the light emitting component mounting process (ST3) describedabove performed in the component mounting apparatus M4 will be describedwith reference to FIG. 9. First, the board 3 to which the solder paste Sis printed and the adhesive A is applied is introduced into thecomponent mounting apparatus M4 (ST31). Next, the board recognition mark3 c that is the reference part of the board 3 is imaged and recognized(reference part recognizing process) (ST32). Next, the board recognitioncamera 12 is moved above the suction opening section 17 a of the tapefeeder 15, the light emitting component 20 in a state of being suckedand held by the suction section 26 is imaged, and the light emittingpart 21 is recognized (light emitting part recognizing process) (ST33).

As illustrated in FIG. 10A, in the component imaging, a lighting device12 a included in the board recognition camera 12 is turned on andimaging for recognizing the light emitting part 21 of the upper surfaceof the light emitting component 20 is performed. In the imaging, thelighting device 12 a applies a lighting light (blue) (arrow h) that issuitable for detecting the phosphor used in the light emitting part 21.In the imaging operation, the lower receiving section 23 is provided andthe suction section 26 that is repulsive upward by the leaf springs 24abuts a bottom surface of the embossed section 16 d forming the pocket16 b accommodating the light emitting component 20 of the imagingtarget.

In this case, the section hole 26 c is vacuum-sucked by vacuum-sucking(arrow f) the section hole 26 c by driving the vacuum suction source 28(FIGS. 4A to 4C) and thereby the light emitting component 20 isvacuum-sucked from the hole section 16 e provided on the bottom surfaceof the pocket 16 b through the section hole 26 b. Thus, the lightemitting component 20 is sucked and held at a stable position within thepocket 16 b, and the board recognition camera 12 can acquire arecognized image in the stable state. FIG. 10B illustrates a recognitionscreen 12 b that is acquired as described above. That is, an image viewindicating the upper surface of the light emitting component 20 isillustrated in the recognition screen 12 b and as described above, theboard recognition camera 12 images the light emitting component 20 byusing the lighting light (blue) having the characteristics suitable forrecognizing the phosphor of the light emitting part 21. Thus, it ispossible to detect the light emitting part 21 that is the detectiontarget in the recognition screen 12 b with high recognition precision.Thus, it is possible to detect the light emitting part position FC thatis the position reference when mounting the light emitting component 20with high precision.

Next, the light emitting component 20 in a state of being sucked andheld by the suction section 26 is picked up (picking up process) (ST34)by the component mount head 11 based on the recognition result of thelight emitting part 21 in (ST33). In the picking up process, similar tothe light emitting part recognizing process (ST33), the suction section26 that is repulsive upward by the leaf springs 24 similarly abuts thebottom surface of the embossed section 16 d forming the pocket 16 baccommodating the light emitting component 20 of the pick-up target. Inthis case, the section hole 26 c is vacuum-sucked (arrow f) by drivingthe vacuum suction source 28 (FIGS. 4A to 4C) and thereby the lightemitting component 20 is vacuum-sucked from the hole section 16 eprovided in the bottom surface of the pocket 16 b through the sectionhole 26 b. Thus, the light emitting component 20 is held in the stableposition similar to the state of the recognition operation illustratedin FIGS. 10A and 10B within the pocket 16 b and it is possible to pickup the light emitting component 20 in the stable state.

In the component pick-up, as illustrated in FIG. 11B, the light emittingcomponent 20 is picked up by positioning the suction nozzle 11 a to thelight emitting part position FC that is recognized in (ST33). In thecomponent pick-up operation, a pick-up force F2 of the light emittingcomponent 20 by the suction nozzle 11 a is greater than a suctionholding force F1 of the light emitting component 20 by vacuum suction ofthe suction section 26 and thereby setting of dimensions of the holesection 16 e and the section hole 26 b, and setting of a vacuum suctionpressure by the vacuum suction source 28 are performed so as not tohinder normal pick-up. That is, the component mount head 11 that is themount head picks up the light emitting component 20 with the holdingforce greater than the holding force by suction by the suction section26 from below.

Moreover, a portion (for example, the component center PC illustrated inFIG. 11C) other than the light emitting part position FC may be set asthe pick-up target portion instead of pick-up of the light emittingcomponent 20 by positioning the suction nozzle 11 a to the lightemitting part position FC by characteristics of the light emittingcomponent 20. In this case, an offset amount between the light emittingpart position FC and the pick-up target portion recognized in (ST33) isstored and the mounting position is corrected by the offset amount inthe following component mounting.

Next, the component mount head 11 that picks up the light emittingcomponent 20 is moved to the board 3 and the pick-up light emittingcomponent 20 is mounted on the board 3 (ST35). In this case, themounting position control of the component mount head 11 is performedsuch that the light emitting part position FC recognized in (ST33)matches the mount coordinate point 3 b. That is, the light emittingcomponent 20 is mounted on the board 3 based on the recognition resultof the board recognition mark 3 c that is the reference part and thelight emitting part 21 (mounting process).

Then, in a process in which a similar component mounting operation isrepeatedly performed, it is determined whether or not the light emittingcomponent 20 to be mounted remains (ST36). Here, if the light emittingcomponent 20 to be mounted remains, the procedure is returned to (ST33)and the same subsequent processing operation is repeatedly performed andif it is determined that there is not the light emitting component 20 tobe mounted in (ST36), the component mounting is completed and deliveryof the board is performed (ST37). Then, after (ST4), operationsillustrated in FIG. 8 are performed.

Thus, even if the variation exists in the light emitting part positionin the light emitting component 20, it is possible to mount the lightemitting component 20 by accurately positioning the light emitting part21 to the reference position of the board 3. In addition, it is possibleto prevent the movement of the light emitting component 20 by theadhesive A by the self-alignment operation during melting of the solderin the reflow process. It is possible to mount the light emittingcomponent 20 on the board 3 by soldering with high positioningprecision.

As described above, in the component mounting apparatus M4 and thecomponent mounting method indicated in the embodiment, when mounting thelight emitting component 20 on the board 3 by picking up the lightemitting component 20 by the component mount head 11 from the pocket 16b of the carrier tape 16 supplied by the tape feeder 15, the lightemitting component 20 in a state of being held within the pocket 16 b bythe holding unit from below is imaged from above and the light emittingpart 21 of the light emitting component 20 is recognized. Similarly, thelight emitting component 20 in a state of being held by the holding unitis picked up by the component mount head 11 and the pick-up lightemitting component 20 is mounted on the board 3 based on the recognitionresult in which the reference part of the board 3 is recognized and therecognition result of the light emitting part 21.

Thus, a drawback in the related art in which a second recognizingprocess for recognizing the light emitting component by imaging thelight emitting component from the lower surface side in addition to afirst recognizing process for recognizing the light emitting componentby imaging the light emitting component from the upper surface side inthe mounting process, that is, a drawback that it takes time for imagingand the recognizing process of the light emitting component and itcauses lowering of the productivity is eliminated. Furthermore, even ifa combination in which both the body section of the light emittingcomponent and the carrier tape are black, and the exterior of thecomponent is unlikely to be optically recognized is the target, in theembodiment, since only the light emitting part 21 is recognized, it ispossible to accurately perform the position recognition for positioningthe light emitting component 20.

In addition, even if differences occur in the exteriors of the uppersurface and the lower surface due to cut-shape precision of the cuttingand separating process of the light emitting component into individualpieces, in the embodiment, since the position recognition is notrequired from the lower surface side, it is not an obstacle tosufficiently secure the mounting precision. Thus, according to thecomponent mounting method and the component mounting apparatusillustrated in the embodiment, even if the light emitting componentwhere variation occurs in the position of the light emitting part is thetarget, it is possible to secure the mounting precision withoutperforming recognition of the light emitting component from the lowersurface side.

Moreover, in the embodiment described above, an example, in which thelight emitting component 20 such as the LED is the component mounted onthe board 3 supplied by the tape feeder 15 having the configurationillustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4A to 4C, is illustrated, but the supplytarget of the tape feeder 15 illustrated in the embodiment is notlimited to the light emitting component 20. That is, if it is acomponent of which mounting positioning is necessary to be determinedbased on a result of the recognition of the reference position beingperformed by imaging the upper surface of the component in addition tothe light emitting component 20, it is possible to be the supply targetby the tape feeder 15 having the configuration described above.

Even for the light emitting component in which variation exists in theposition of the light emitting part, the component mounting method andthe component mounting apparatus of the present invention have effectsthat the mounting precision can be secured without performingrecognition of the light emitting component from the lower surface sideof the light emitting component and are useful in a field ofmanufacturing the lighting board by mounting the light emittingcomponent such as the LED on the board.

What is claimed is: 1: A component mounting method for mounting a lightemitting component on a board by picking up the light emitting componentby a mount head, the method comprising: recognizing a reference partformed in the board; recognizing a light emitting part of the lightemitting component by imaging the light emitting component from above ina state where the light emitting component is held by a holder frombelow; picking up the light emitting component by the mount head in thestate where the light emitting component is held by the holder frombelow; and mounting the picked up light emitting component on the boardbased on a recognition result of the reference part and a recognitionresult of the light emitting part, wherein the holder holds the lightemitting component by sucking the light emitting component from below.2: The component mounting method according to claim 1, wherein the lightemitting component is picked up with a holding force that is greaterthan a holding force by suction of the holder from below.